Legal Question in Criminal Law in Michigan

Re: Disorderly Conduct/Usage of MJ

The police can't ticket/charge you with a crime unless they see it or have knowledge that it happened. Unfortunately, they can charge you with additional offenses even after the initial ticket. You need representation! Please contact me. All information is held in strict confidence.

Re: Disorderly Conduct/Usage of MJ

Let me give you a prosecutor's perspective (unlike the first 'hire me!' reply).

A "ticket" is more of a summons than an official charging document. It told you that you had to appear in court by a certain date, and cited an offense cognizable by that court. But a cop's appearance ticket is not necessarily the final word on what you're charged with.

The official charging document that the court relies on is a Complaint that is authorized by the prosecutor. In Michigan, the prosecuting attorney --- not the police officer --- decides what charges are issued. The prosecutor's charging decision is not bound by what the cop puts on the ticket. In a high percentage of cases, the prosecutor agrees with the cop's inclination. But I frequently overrule what's on a ticket and issue something different, or issue additional charges, based on the case's facts.

A charge of Use of Marijuana would require prosecutor review. It could not be prosecuted without that "screening". I'll bet that what happened was this: the police officer issed you an appearance ticket, but then filed a copy of the ticket and his incident report with the prosecutor. The prosecutor then reviewed the facts in the report and issued a Complaint that included the additional charge. The cop didn't "tack on" an additional charge.

Regarding your question about whether you can be charged with Use of Marijuana just on your statement ... my short answer is "no, you can't". My long answer is this: If the police had no evidence of your criminal activity (here, smoking grass) other than your "confession", prosecution would not be possible. In official legalese, your confession is not admissible unless there's some other evidence of the 'corpus' of the crime.

You may have an interesting defense' (or, at least, a reasonable-doubt). The question isn't whether you've smoked pot, it's "when" and "where" ... and whether the "when" and "where" are charged in that case. If the Complaint said that you used marijuana on November 11, 2001 at 123 Main Street in Hometown, Home County, MI ... but the incident that you confessed to was to smoking pot on October 3rd, 2001 at 456 First Street in Nexttown, Next County, MI ... then the prosecutor may not be able to prove what's in his complaint. Right?

Finally, you seem unsure about what exactly you said to the police ("... i told him that I had been smoking pot which I never did I think ..."). Advantage? Cop!